How to hire opticians, dispensing

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
• Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
• Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent]
• Strong speaking, active listening, reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing and active learning skills
• Working knowledge of customer and personal service, sales and marketing, mathematics and production and processing
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $22.72 an hour ($47,260 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for opticians, dispensing

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
6. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
7. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What opticians, dispensing do

• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
• Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
• Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.

Skills that matter most

SpeakingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingActive LearningCustomer and Personal ServiceSales and MarketingMathematicsProduction and Processing

Education, experience and outlook for opticians, dispensing

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 6 months to 1 year (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Long-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +4.2% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 5,600 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay opticians, dispensing

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See opticians, dispensing pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians
• Optometrists
• Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
• Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other
• Healthcare Support Workers, All Other
• Medical Equipment Preparers
• Pharmacy Technicians
• Pharmacy Aides
• Medical Assistants
• Hearing Aid Specialists

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.